Deborah Thuman on fri 9 nov 07
The second test tile with Pete's Copper Red was fired and out of the
kiln. It's seriously gorgeous, doesn't run as badly as I thought it
might, and there's no crazing. I can't wait to use it on tiles, bread
pans, anything else I can think of that would look nice in red. I
discovered today that the huge gas kiln is programmed for a slow cool
down. That being the case, I think I can expect decent results when I
have the tiles fired.
I discovered something today. I absolutely prefer using the kick wheel
to the electric wheel. There's something very calming about using a
kick wheel. Something very quiet and helpful for getting near my
center. The good news is, I didn't have clay flying off the wheel
today. The bad news is, I couldn't make a tall cylinder to save my
life. I seem to be doing better at pulling up the clay - but I also
seem to be getting an uneven thickness - and I think that's what is
causing the problems.
A couple weeks ago, I took some of my clay, made slabs, painted the
slabs with colored slip, and then stacked the slabs back up. I threw an
ugly pot a week ago - one of the few pieces that didn't fly off the
wheel that day - and it's ready to be bisque fired. I'm not sure if
I'll see any colored streaks. I'm only firing this ugly pot to see if
I've made marble. If not, I'll have made land fill.
Jim has been busy making me tools. He found some rubber stamp materials
at the Redo Store (proceeds to Habitat for Humanity) and he made me
some stamps - my initials, 04, 6, 10. I really like working with white
clay and I have to mark each piece so I don't accidently put the ^04
clay on the ^10 cart.
Slowly, I'm making my way back to my center. It's amazing how
therapeutic art can be.
Deb
http://debthumansblog.blogspot.com/
KATHI LESUEUR on sat 10 nov 07
On Nov 9, 2007, at 11:00 PM, Deborah Thuman wrote:
> The second test tile with Pete's Copper Red was fired and out of the
> kiln. It's seriously gorgeous, doesn't run as badly as I thought it
> might, and there's no crazing. I can't wait to use it on tiles, bread
> pans, anything else I can think of that would look nice in red.
Before you go selling red bread pans I'd use them for a while. I use
Pete's red also. It's beautiful. But, it seems to scratch easily. I
do use it on functional pieces. But only large one of a kind that
people won't use on a daily basis. I warn the buyer to use care in
handling. It seems to be a rather soft surface.
Kathi
| |
|
